Loyal Hearts: Histories of American Civil War Canines

by Michael Zucchero

Soldiers during the American Civil War adopted many exotic mascots. They ranged from alligators to badgers and bear cubs to wildcats, but none were as common, loyal and affectionate as dogs. The total number of canine mascots from the period is not known, but a few attained minor celebrity status and were memorialized on reunion buttons and monuments. In this book, Mike Zucchero tells the famous stories of Dog Jack, Harvey, and Sallie, as well as those of lesser known four-legged friends. For every documented dog in the field, there were dozens that only lived on in the memories of the soldiers. Yet dogs were active in their military sharing men s trials and tribulations, offering their affection and providing entertainment to soldiers that faced hour upon hour of military boredom or possible death in an instant. Unfortunately, many of these mascots likewise became casualties. The appeal of a dog mascot seems to have overwhelmed some soldiers so much that they took to dognapping. Confederate General Hays men of the Louisiana Brigade abducted the tiny mascot Stonewall from the Richmond Howitzers several times. At Sailor s Creek, after fighting around the Lockett Farm and across the Double Bridges, troops of Federal General Andrew Humphreys Second Corps captured a large portion of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia s wagon train and found a litter of puppies among the wagons. One of the most famous photographs of the Civil War, taken by Timothy O Sullivan at Appomattox (see page 142), shows Federal soldiers in front of the Appomattox Courthouse building. Upon enlargement, the photograph reveals two soldiers have small dog mascots in their arms, though one blurred as a result of movement during the long exposure. Although there is no known written documentation of these canines, the photograph indicates 60 men of the Provost Guard duty had at least two dogs. The 102nd Pennsylvania Infantry s multiple dog mascots included Jack and York. Early on in the war, as the regiment advanced in line of battle, York patrolled the left flank with Company B while Jack advanced with the right flank. York died from the rigors of campaign life leaving Jack the regimental favorite. As a sign of their high regard for their beloved mascot, the men clubbed together and bought Jack a $75 silver collar at a time when a soldiers pay was $13 a month. Jack was captured with some of the regiment at the battle of Salem Church, Virginia, on May 3, 1863, and held with them as a prisoner of war at Belle Isle, Virginia, until he was exchanged for a Confederate soldier. Jack disappeared near Frederick City, Maryland, on December 23, 1864, and the men speculated that Jack was killed by robbers for his silver collar. Interestingly enough, there was a second dog named Jack of another regiment, the 56th New York Infantry that also received a special collar purchased by the men. This Jack fared better despite being wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks, and survived all the regiment s battles and returned home to die of old age. A third dog named Jack or Union Jack served with the 1st Maryland Infantry (U. S.). Federal Civil War photographs of soldiers are far more numerous than photos of Confederates. The same is true for dog mascot images the lone Confederate dog photo being of Tinker who served on the crew of a blockade runner. As far as stories, there is more parity that includes Frank of the Orphan Brigade s 2nd Kentucky Infantry (C. S.) that carried his own rations in a haversack specially made for him. The last known dog fatality on the battlefield was Charlie of the Georgia Troup Artillery killed in action at the Battle of Cumberland Church, April 7, 1865, only two days before General Lee s surrender.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical, American History, American Civil War, Dogs

184 pages, Hardcover

First published February 16, 2009

Reviews

[Cyndie Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth the read just for the pictures of civil war soldiers with adorable white fluffy dogs. I really enjoyed these stories and hearing how much hope animals gave to people during hard times of the civil war. Even before we had formal working dogs there were dogs helping our armed forces. Honestly only wish there was more information and wonderful stories to fill this book. Lovely.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow I love dogs. what a great book!

[Jeffrey Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a poorly written and poorly edited book. The topic is great and there is a wealth of information if you can wade through the unnecessary information. There is too much of an emphasis on the regiments and the battles and too little information about the dogs. The Battle of Antietam is covered in at least two sections so a lot of information repeats. The Dogs at Antietam could have been a separate chapter combining all of the dogs who served at Antietam both Union and Confederate and the author could have saved the reader from a lot of repeated and useless details.

The final chapter on Sallie Jarrett was the best as was the appendix that listed the names of the dogs with their regiments. It was a comprehensive look at the totality of the dog's career and was touching. Unfortunately, the rest of the book needed to have been written in a similar vein to this. I'm sorry but for the great information, the typographical errors, grammatical syntax errors and poor pagination gets in the way of what the author was trying to accomplish.

[Anna M (readwithanna)]

Skimmed about half of this book, but just couldn’t hold my attention. I enjoyed the photographs of dogs with their soldier companions. I think I couldn’t get through this because I am not very interested in Civil War history. Thought the book being about dogs would override that.

[Joel Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stories, but could have used an editor, and some proofreading.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute stories of canine companions to the troops. Most of them strays, so it was like they knew they were needed somewhere.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much battle talk, not enough dog talk -- but great cover art on the copy I have. Wish I knew how to add the cover picture to Goodreads.

[Krista | theliterateporcupine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a few typos, and the content was a little too anthropomorphic, but other than that, the book was interesting.